N.H. Republicans want to know: Is Brown in or out?

Matt StoutThursday, December 05, 2013

Credit: Matt West

Scott Brown.

Former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown’s monthslong flirtation with a possible New Hampshire Senate run is wearing thin with some Republicans there, who say he needs to get in or get out of the 2014 race — with incumbent Jeanne Shaheen using his name as fundraising bait.

“That important layer of Republican opinion leaders, activists and elected officials are growing weary of this in-and-out game, if you will,” said Mike Dennehy, a Granite State GOP consultant. “The bottom line is the Republicans believe that Jeanne Shaheen can be vulnerable, so they want a candidate who can be competitive.”

“I think people are saying, ‘Make up your mind so we know whether you’re in or not.’ They don’t like last-minute stuff,” said Fran Wendelboe, a New Hampshire Republican activist. “They don’t want to feel that they’ve been — I don’t want to say misled — but led along. If he came out and said, ‘I’m a great guy, I love New Hampshire and enjoy helping out, I love the party, but I really don’t have any interest in being a candidate,’ then just say it and get out of the way. ... We don’t mind primaries, but we like time to absorb it all.”

Brown, who declined comment yesterday, has floated signs for months he may run against Shaheen, who has repeatedly used the specter of a Brown run in her fundraising letters. That raises the prospect that some other Republican would have to face a very well-financed Democrat.

Brown opened a state political action committee in October and has made frequent visits to local political events. Last week, he dropped the “MA” from his Twitter handle. And Brown, who owns a New Hampshire vacation home, has refused to rule out a run.

Former U.S. Sen. Bob Smith entered the race last week, but brings baggage. Smith once left the party to seek a third-party presidential nomination, only to return and lose his Senate seat in 2002. He also has a home in Florida, where he’s twice run for Senate. And Smith’s staunch conservatism doesn’t sit well with the party’s more moderate mainstream.

“The prospect of (Smith) running for Senate in New Hampshire gives urgency to the establishment — ‘We need to find someone else and we need to find someone fast,’” said Fergus Cullen, a former state party chairman.

But other Republicans are more patient. State Rep. Pam Tucker (R-Greenland) said, “At this point, he’s doing his due diligence, that’s how I’m perceiving it. Is there frustration that he hasn’t jumped in yet? No. I think everybody is focusing on Christmas and the holidays.”